


Pick Me Up, Love

by Hollyspacey



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bad Pick-Up Lines, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7230385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollyspacey/pseuds/Hollyspacey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Darcy fights fire with fire. Fire being terrible pick-up lines, in this case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This all started with a conversation with @abbyli about Darcy taping inappropriate notes to Steve's shield to embarrass him. I took the idea and ran with it.
> 
> Update! I had some amazingly kind comments, asking for a sequel, so I hope you all enjoy chapter 2!. (Side note, y'all are so lovely. You make the angst of writing totally worth it.) 
> 
> I'm on [Tumblr](http://hollyspacey.tumblr.com), so come say hello! :)

Her first soulmark was boring. “Hello. Nice to meet you,” twining around her left wrist. The other one was decidedly less mundane. Growing up with a cheesy pick up line splashed across your skin meant that there were two possible ways you would react. 

You could get offended at that being the way your soulmate chose to address you for the first time, maybe grow a little weary at the fact that your soulmate was possibly a giant creep and also entirely unoriginal. Or, you could beat them at their own game. 

Darcy chose the latter, and once she was old enough to understand what her soulmate’s first words meant, she made it her mission to always be the one with a great pick up line. She compiled a list of every one she ever heard and whenever she met someone new they got hit on in the cheesiest way she could manage. 

After she received her internship assignment at Culver, she walked into Dr. Jane Foster’s office with a big smile, a copy of her transcript, and a “Do you work for NASA? Because you’re out of this world.” 

Jane simply looked up from her notes, studied Darcy for a moment, nodded, and pushed the papers off of the chair in front of her desk so Darcy could sit. She signed off on Darcy’s paperwork and Darcy was almost out of the door when she spoke, “Are you a black hole? Because I think I’m going to have trouble getting away from you.” 

Darcy just grinned in delight. “Oh, absolutely, boss lady.” 

Which was precisely the way she knew she was going to be by Janie’s side forever. You could tell a lot about a person by how they responded to a little weirdness. 

Thor, in the excitement of their first meeting, didn’t even acknowledge her first words to him, “Your dad must have been a baker, because you’ve got the nicest set of buns I've ever seen.” 

She forgave him later, of course. It was a hectic moment, and when she said it to him for the second time, he laughed that big laugh of his and told everyone he saw that day about how witty his lightning sister was. 

The first time Darcy met Clint, he was leaning against a countertop in Jane’s lab back in New Mexico. He gave her a cocky grin and she gave him a little smirk. “Did you know they're called ‘eyebrows’ because my eyes are browsin’ your fine ass?” 

His face lit up and he replied, “Oh, yes, we are going to get along just fine.” 

Phil got, “Are you a parking ticket? Because you’ve got fine written all over you.” 

Darcy just barely caught the small smirk he was fighting off as he continued stealing Jane’s equipment. He wasn’t all bad, though. Three days later, Darcy received her iPod, wrapped in tissue paper, good as new, and a note taped to the top, “Are you my appendix? Because I don’t understand how you work, but this feeling in my stomach makes me want to take you out? Enjoy your iPod, Miss Lewis.” 

So yeah, Phil was totally cool. Fury, less so. All Darcy got for her, “Are you a pirate? Because I am digging your booty,” was a heavy sigh and a glance to the heavens where he was obviously asking god to give him strength. 

Then after New Mexico came Norway, then London, Darcy still handing out pick up lines, and still not finding her soulmate. 

When Jane got a job offer for Tony Stark for the two of them to come work at the Avengers facility, they jumped at the chance. The second day at the facility, Tony came strolling in, boasting about how generous he was to set the two of them up in such a great lab. 

He was pointing out the new telescope he had installed for Jane when he walked by Darcy and stopped, giving her a once over and a smirk. “Well, hello ther-” 

“Are you sitting on the F5 key? Because your ass is refreshing,” Darcy interrupted in a deadpan voice. 

Tony gawked at her, his mouth flopping open and snapping shut again like a fish. “Ok… I am usually the one making inappropriate come-ons. What is happening here?” 

Darcy forced a blank look onto her face. “Is that a mirror in your pants? Because I can totally see myself in them.” 

Tony narrowed his eyes, and Darcy spoke again, “Did you sit in a pile of sugar? ‘Cause you have a pretty sweet ass.” 

Tony pointed his finger at her suspiciously. “I don’t know what this is about, but I am going to figure you out, Intern Lewis.” 

He cast another leery look around the lab and turned to go, mumbling about how sexual harassment was _wrong_ , and that he was going to regret this, that he couldn’t handle a female version of himself. 

Darcy finally allowed herself a grin as she watched him walk out. “Bye, Tony! Nice to meet you! I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave,” she shouted at his retreating form. 

She wasn’t lying, he really did have a cute butt. 

The next day, Darcy was making a sandwich, when a redhead appeared, the Black Widow herself. She simply hopped up on the counter and stared at Darcy, finally nodding to her and speaking, “Go on, give me a good one.” 

Darcy froze, for the first time truly regretting the way she had chosen to live her life. “Damn girl, are you a Sharpie? Because you are Ultra Fine.” 

The redhead smirked. “Not terrible. Have I made you nervous?” 

“Yeah, maybe a little.” 

“Good,” Natasha said, hopping off the counter and smiling at Darcy. “Clint was right, you are a delight.” 

The Steve thing happened by accident, Darcy swears. She just realized one day that she had an entire collection of patriotic lines that she’d never used. And really, who better to use them on than Captain America? 

Trouble was, she didn’t exactly know the guy. He was always busy, gone a lot because of his search for his friend, and whenever he was at the facility, Jane was usually on a science bender and Darcy was stuck in the lab. So, they’d never _officially_ met.

Later, she would swear that it was all Friday’s idea. The AI helped for sure, having a sort of fondness towards Darcy since their initial meeting, when Darcy had looked to the nearest speaker and said, “You must be Windows 95, because you've got me feeling very unstable.” 

Friday didn’t correct her, just greeted Darcy in a softer, more tender, voice. Tony, of course, hated that too. “I can’t believe my AI likes you! Why are you ruining my life, Lewis?”

*

The first time it happened to him, Steve was fighting off a pack of doombots. He’d pulled his shield back and tossed it, the flash of white on the underside catching his attention just as it left his hand. Once it took out three doombots, it circled back to him and he caught it. 

On the back was a tiny note taped to the inner curve. It read: _On a scale of 1 to America, how free are you tonight?_

Steve felt a burst of laughter erupt from his throat as he stared at the words. The message was new, but that distinctive handwriting was not. 

The day after he got out of the ice, after the debriefing and meetings, he finally got the chance to be alone. Locked himself in the apartment SHIELD had provided, and took a shower. As he was drying off, he noticed a black streak running down his leg. Looking closer, he realized it was words, a new soulmark he never thought he’d have. He'd thought his soulmate days were long over. But now, reading what was to be the first words his soulmate would say to him, gave him the first laugh he’d had since waking up. 

Now, somehow, another pickup line in his soulmate’s handwriting was taped to the back of his shield. Questions of who it might be dominated his thoughts on the trip home. When he returned to the facility, he asked Friday who had left it there, but the AI claimed to have been sworn to secrecy. 

“Well, do they at least live here?” 

The AI paused. “I don’t believe I can answer that question, as the person in question has privacy protocols in place to protect their identity, My apologies, Captain Rogers but I can give you no information.” 

Steve didn’t know where to turn, asking Stark would undoubtedly only make the situation worse. Friday wasn’t helping and Steve had no clue how to trace the note back to his soulmate.

The notes kept coming, though. He went to put him shield across his back one day before a mission, and was faced with another piece of paper bearing the words, _Call me Paul Revere, because I would like to give you a midnight ride._

He was glad his teammates weren’t around, and he soon got in the habit of checking his shield before every mission. 

Before Prague, he found, _Don't worry if you're only wearing stripes because I'll make you see stars._

Melbourne was a small drawing of a flag, and, _I must be Uncle Sam, because ‘ **I WANT YOU**.’_

Buenos Aires was, _You red, white, and blew my mind._

And Cape Town was, _Oh say, can you see...me in your bed tonight?_

Steve was sitting on the quinjet headed back to the facility when he pulled himself from his musings of who his soulmate might be and tried to pay attention to the conversation Sam and Clint were having. He interrupted a story about drunken karaoke with Natasha to ask, “Who is Darcy?” 

“You haven’t met Darcy yet?” Sam started laughing. “Oh man, I can’t wait to see what she comes up with for you.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Sam settled back with a grin. “Ok, so one of her soulmarks is this cheesy pick-up line, so that’s how she greets new people. First time I met her, she poured herself a cup of coffee, looked me over and said, ‘ _Hey, are your parents beavers? ‘Because, dammmmmmn._ ’” 

Darcy. So that was her name. It had to be. 

Steve gave a distracted laugh and pulled out his Starkpad, a man on a mission. A few minutes later, Steve found everything he needed. Darcy Lewis, intern to Dr. Jane Foster, resident at the facility, close friend of Thor, and a beautiful dame to boot. 

The next day, armed with a plan, Steve found himself going to Dr. Foster’s lab. Darcy was sitting at a desk, twirling a pencil around between her fingers as she looked over some notes. Steve went in and introduced himself to Jane, feeling the other woman sidle up behind him. He turned around to see her smirking proudly at him, arms crossed. “I would say God bless America but it looks like he already did.” 

Steve just gave her a lazy grin and said, “Are you a library book? Because I’m totally checking you out.” 

A squawk of laughter left Darcy’s mouth. “No way.” 

Steve shrugged and she playfully pushed him. “You made me go through life with a pick up line etched on my body? A terrible one at that!” 

“Hey, that was gold. Besides, you started it.” 

Darcy grimaced. “I did, didn’t I?” 

Steve nodded, and they stared at each other, grinning like maniacs. Darcy finally stepped back and grabbed her purse. “Come on, Romeo, I’ve got like thirty more lines I’ve never used. Buy me some food and I’ll let you hear them.”

-

Weeks later, when they finally caught up to Bucky and he agreed it was time to come in, Steve caught a glimpse of writing curved around his right bicep. Steve couldn’t but laugh at the familiar handwriting spelling out, “Your name must be winter, because you're about to be coming."


	2. Chapter 2

After meeting Steve, Darcy gave up on the pick up line business. Well, not completely, she always had a good one for Tony, if only because it seemed to throw him slightly off-kilter. 

He’d come in to bother Jane and all it would take was Darcy giving him, “I’m not Fred Flinstone, but I still know how to make your bed rock,” and he’d scurry back to his lair. Or, he’d be poking fun at Steve and Darcy would look all innocent and ask, “Are your pants a compressed file? Because I'd love to unzip them.” 

Steve, being a total troll himself, loved it. Darcy knew there was a reason fate had put them together, and if it was solely to drive Tony crazy, that would be reason enough. But they were good together. He was kind and decent in a way she hadn’t anticipated. And also a sassy little shit. 

Steve was surprised by how well he got along with Darcy, too. When Bucky had fallen from that train, he’d assumed that he was through with soulmates. If you’d asked him then, he would have told you he was fine with that. That he’d had his chance, and that part of his life was over. But Darcy changed that. Her words had given him a bit of hope when he’d had none and he would be eternally grateful for that. 

And she wasn’t jealous or insecure about being Steve’s second soulmate at all. At first he’d held back, only told her the basics, then one night, he spilled everything. Told her about the, “ _He got ya’ good, didn’t he?_ ” childishly scrawled across his abdomen, and how his own six-year-old handwriting had scratched an, “ _I had ‘im on the ropes_ ,” across Bucky’s ribs. Told her about the pain of losing him and then the impossibly bigger pain of finding him again. Told her about the good times, too. 

And they talked about her second soulmate, too. They would stare at the polite words her other soulmate would say and they wondered about them. Darcy made it perfectly clear in that tone of voice of hers that brooked no arguments, that they were now a package deal, that whoever was meant for her would just have to take him, too. That was that.

Steve would look at the words sometimes and think that the handwriting looked familiar. That the _H_ looked almost exactly like the way Bucky signed his. The _m_ too, if he squinted. But he knew that wasn’t Bucky’s handwriting, it was too small and cramped, messy in a way Bucky’s hadn’t been. It was just wishful thinking. He’d thought if that were Bucky’s handwriting, it would be proof that they were going to get him back. So, he’d stare and stare at those words until he could almost convince himself they were his friend’s. If Darcy noticed, she never said anything.

It wasn’t until later, that he realized that maybe he’d been right along. That maybe because Bucky wasn’t exactly the same, maybe his handwriting wasn’t either. That there was a very real bit of proof that Bucky would come back. 

A Hydra base in Belarus had been destroyed and when Sam and Steve landed, standing calmly in the rubble he’d created, was Bucky. He took a deep breath, looked Steve square in the eyes and said, “I'm ready to come in, now. I'm done.” 

They all got back on the quinjet and headed back to the Tower. Steve directed Bucky to the bathroom to go clean up and called Darcy. “We got him, Darce. He's coming back.” 

Darcy squealed on the other end and Steve could hear Jane asking what was wrong. She shushed her and returned her attention to Steve. “Oh, Steve. I'm so happy! Get both of your cute butts back here now!” 

Sam huffed loudly. “What about my cute butt?” 

“Bring Sam’s cute butt back, too,” Darcy yelled, giggling. 

Steve heard the door to the bathroom opening and said his goodbyes, promising to see her soon. Bucky walked back towards the cockpit, the fresh shirt Steve had given him in his hands as he stood, allowing Steve to look at him. 

Steve's eyes skated over the body that he'd once known so well and stopped at his left arm. The way Bucky was watching his examining gaze told Steve this was intentional, his way of saying, ‘ _I'm still Bucky, but I'm different now._ ” 

Steve gave him a nod and his eyes shot back down to the black lines marring his right bicep. He came closer to read them and couldn't hold back the bark of laughter. His whole chest filled with warmth as he read the words in the same handwriting as the words that trailed down his leg. 

“Any idea what they mean?” Bucky asked with a furrowed brow. 

Steve gave a little smirk. “I think it's from a tv show. My girl watches it.” 

Bucky arched a brow. “You telling me you finally got yourself a girl?” 

“Yeah, she's great. She's gonna love you.” 

Bucky shrugged. “Not sure she’s gonna want to spend that much time with me.” 

“No, she will. We’ve already discussed it.” Bucky arched a brow and Steve continued, “She knows you’re my soulmate. She’s just happy you’re coming back.” 

“She might not be too happy about the whole Hydra thing.” 

Steve gave him a soft smile. “Give her a chance, Buck. I think she’ll surprise you.”

The moment the door on the quinjet opened, Steve heard the squealing. Darcy ran through the doors and jumped into his arms, letting him give her a twirl. He sat her down and she looked up at him, gleefully. “I heard you got me a present.” 

He chuckled and gave a nod back to Bucky, who was slowly walking off of the quinjet. “Best present ever,” Darcy said, smirking at Steve. She squeezed his hand quickly and spoke softly, “I’m glad he’s here.” 

Steve beckoned Bucky forward and stood to the side as he and Darcy sized each other up. “Darcy, Bucky. Bucky, Darcy.” 

Bucky hesitantly held out his hand and started to speak, but Darcy grabbed his hand to shake it and interrupted him, “Your name must be winter, because you're about to be coming.” 

Neither one noticed Steve to the side, lighting up, namely because Darcy was watching Bucky intently, anxious to see how he would take her, and Bucky was completely flabbergasted. 

It was as if the whole world had dropped out from beneath him. He frowned and looked down at their hands, still clasped, and back up at her face and said the words his mother had ingrained in him decades ago, “Hello. Nice to meet you.”


End file.
